152 THE SHOOTER'S GUIDE. 



will not fly far before it turns, and describes a sort of 

 semicircle, which will afford more time to take aim, 

 by thus remaining longer within gun-shot. If, how- 

 ever, the bird should fly straight forward, it will oe 

 highly proper to let it get some little distance, as its 

 flight will become much steadier. The slightest 

 wound is sufficient to bring these birds to the ground; 

 and indeed I once fired at a snipe, which fell; and, on 

 picking it up, I could not observe a feather discom- 

 posed, nor any wound about it : I plucked it, and not 

 the slightest mark of violence appeared. I am in- 

 duced to suppose that a pellet of shot slantingly 

 struck its bill. 



An old pointer is the best in snipe-shooting. To 

 accustom a young dog to snipes slacks his mettle, 

 and renders him of little use for partridge or grouse, 

 owing to getting a number of points with little exer- 

 tion. However, when these birds are plentiful, a dog 

 is unnecessary, as , walking them up will answer 

 equally well. But, at all events, a dog used for grouse- 

 shooting should never be taken to set snipes, as it will 

 not only injure him, but cause disappointment to the 

 sportsman, as these birds are sometimes found on the 

 moors in the grouseing season ; and a shooter would 

 be mortified (especially when rather fatigued) to walk 

 a considerable distance up to a steady set, expecting 

 grouse, and a snipe rise before him. 



Numbers of snipes, in the course of the winter, 

 are killed by a very fierce little hawk, called the Mer- 

 lin, which is a bird of passage, and visits this coun* 



